


i love what i can't see

by jukeboxtheghostie



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Bisexual Saihara Shuichi, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, Trans Male Character, Trans Saihara Shuichi, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, iidabashi is a good robot dad, local robot is confused, not sure how else to tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 22:25:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19260352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jukeboxtheghostie/pseuds/jukeboxtheghostie
Summary: kiibo learns how to live like a human.title based off of dead weight by jack stauberfirst chapter written in early march, i'll probably write more





	i love what i can't see

the first thing he feels is fear. 

everything is black. he hears an unfamiliar voice. it’s difficult for him to process what is going on until his auditory processors work harder to identify the voice. 

he sits silently for a moment as the entity attached to the strange voice fiddles with his face— he can slowly start to feel each touch the entity inflicts. maybe his touch receptors are only just now being turned on, or maybe the realization that the voice was attached to someone touching him sank in. 

he hears a quiet, almost inaudibly so “there”, then he sees everything. 

the colors flood in all at once. he winces against the harsh light at first, letting his eyes adjust to his surroundings. there is a man standing in front of him. he looks old, withered by time and his studies. his hair is dark brown and unruly, seemingly unbrushed and with many grey spots present.

“who.. where am i..?” his voice sounds soft and hoarse, like he had not spoken in a while. as far as he can recall, this is his first time speaking. 

he was very disoriented at the moment. everything was new. he didn’t know how to process everything at once. 

the man in front of him explains to him carefully what’s going on, with the kind patience of a father. “my name is iidabashi tetsuya, but you can call me professor if you’d like. from what i gather.. you’ve just been born. you see, you’re my creation. i’ve developed an ai that can grow and learn just like a normal human. that seems to be the cause of your disorientation— you don’t know anything yet, similar to an infant. so, in that case.. register name.”

the professor speaks the last part like a command. his head makes an odd beeping noise, to input the name he assumes. 

“K1-B0. nickname kiibo.”

“affirmative. thank you, professor.”

said professor smiles. “alright. how are you feeling?” 

how is he feeling? that was a hard question to answer. 

“well, i am.. not sure. i felt fearful without vision, but now i feel..”

he pauses for a good half minute, the older man scanning his face excitedly but with the same patience as before. 

“content.” he doesn’t say it like a question as he intended, the word feeling clunky coming from him.

the professor seems delighted by his answer. he grins, jumping in place for a brief moment with a shout of joy. K1-B0 watches him curiously. 

K1-B0.. kiibo.. he likes it. 

he looks around him more as the man celebrates. he found himself noticing the rest of his body. his hands were sleek and black and small. the rest of his frame seems to be the same. he did not yet appear to be in the fine tuning stage, as there was a loose panel on his thigh. 

he reaches a hand up to feel his face, his eyes, his nose. he does not have ears like the professor, but cylindrical implants on either side of his head about twice as large as the professor’s ears. 

he reaches his hands up to the top of his head, wondering if he had fantastical hair like the professor’s. his is soft and stands up. there is a section of it that is rigid, stands straight up. he has a feeling it is an antenna of some sort. 

he looks around the room. it is cluttered like the desk he is sat on top of, the walls covered in blueprints and messy, rushed shorthand notes and sketches. the whole place is disorganized, or seems disorganized to everyone but the professor. 

his attention is brought back to the professor when he takes his hands suddenly, beaming at kiibo. 

“i’m so proud of you,” the professor whispers, squeezing his hands gently, and kiibo doesn’t know why he is proud, but his chest swells up with some unknown sensation. 

————————

when kiibo saw his reflection for the first time, he was fascinated. he saw the dark lines down his cheeks, his electric blue eyes, how white his hair and face were in contrast to the rest of his body.

the professor looked completely different. his face wasn’t smooth, but wrinkled, creases in his forehead and eye bags showing his tiredness but the laughter lines around his mouth showing how fulfilling his life was. his eyes were a dark brown, his skin far more tan than kiibo’s stark white face, and his hair, although it stood up wildly, was black with streaks of grey hairs.

when he first got to see the outside, he gasped audibly, even though he had no breath to expel. it was so beautiful, more beautiful than any green sunny windows screensaver. there was snow everywhere, even on the trees, and the endless white was mesmerizing. he found himself standing by the large window in the professor’s living room for hours at a time. it was his favorite pastime.

when the professor did his final touches on kiibo, adding a protective layer of armor just in case, kiibo was thrilled. all he really did was stay in the lab and the professor’s house, so he hardly ever wore the armor. it was difficult to snap on and off, but he greatly appreciated the bulkiness of it. 

he did not like feeling frail and brittle, like glass. he already felt so when he’d fallen in the first few days of his life, having to get constant miniscule repairs done by the professor.

occasionally, the professor built minor upgrades like a dictionary and thesaurus or a photo printer in his mouth using his eyes as the camera. kiibo found these upgrades amusing. he enjoyed learning more about the outside world. 

he loved it in the professor’s care. he loved the spacious rooms and cluttered tables. he loved the windows and the sound of rain hitting the skylights. he loved learning new things every day either from himself and his observations or from asking the professor incessant questions. 

but eventually, he had gotten to the point where he wanted to see more. their space wasn’t enough for him anymore. he wanted to get outside, feel the snow in his palms, see a tree up close. he wanted to pet a dog, like the one that had wandered into their yard two months after he was born.

the professor had explained before how he was even feeling anything like this in the first place. the revolutionary formula he’d developed, one that seemed so simple but held the key to the human conscious and man’s inner desires, easily explained how he could be experiencing human emotions.

so his curiosity was justified, yet he still felt guilty for wanting to leave. 

kiibo was his prototype and his finished product. his first moment awake had been test number 16754. the professor spent ten years perfecting him and had no intention of making any more copies of him. 

that made kiibo feel special. 

he was one of a kind. 

but being one of a kind got lonely. 

so one night, over dinner—he did not need to eat, but the professor did, and he enjoyed the professor’s company so he sat at the table while he ate. he wished he could sample the food himself, but settled for imagining how it tasted as he watched the professor eat—kiibo voiced his concerns. perhaps there was a coding error, in explanation for this needless wanting feeling?

“that’s a normal feeling, kiibo,” the professor stated between bites of his rice. “it’s called going stir-crazy.” the older man laughed at kiibo’s worried expression. “don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. that just happens when someone stays inside for too long and wants to go out again.” 

that made sense. everything the professor says makes sense. he is a very sensible man. “how do i.. alleviate this feeling? it is very unpleasant.”

the professor set down his cup and smiled at the robot, standing up to grab his coat. “how about a road trip?”

————————

the city wasn’t as beautiful as the snow, but it was still an extremely impressive sight. there were small buildings like the professor’s house, then larger, taller buildings all around them. there were tons of cars holding tons of people! he spotted a child in the backseat of one car, and when he smiled at the little boy, he saw him scream soundlessly. he didn’t like that. 

kiibo stared out the window of the passenger seat the whole drive, fascinated by small things and calling them out like a child. “look, birds!” “look at this funny shaped building!” “look at all the people!”

the professor found it amusing and endearing. he truly loved and cared for his creation as if he were his own son. 

when the question of where they were headed finally came up, the professor simply mimed zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key. this made kiibo very nervous and worried, both thinking that he had actually zipped up his mouth and thinking they were going somewhere dangerous. he voiced his concerns, of course, earning a groan from the professor. 

man, the professor thought to himself, i really need to install an understanding slang and jokes sort of function. 

they drove in silence for a while, kiibo mesmerized by the sights and the professor lost in thought, before the professor realized they were close to their destination. 

“so, kiibo.. have you read anything about hope’s peak academy at all?”

“no, professor. what is it?” kiibo shifted away from the window to look at his creator. 

“you see, hope’s peak is a phenomenal school for incredibly gifted students called ultimates. these students have an uncanny ability of theirs that makes them stand out so much that they’re picked for this prestigious school. for example, i knew someone back when i was a young boy who was the ultimate taxidermist. he probably got scouted by hope’s peak later on in life. i, myself, was picked for this school, since i’m the ultimate roboticist. hope’s peak helps you hone in on your skill easier, preparing you for the adult life you’ll have after the four years of study. i.. shoot, i’m rambling again.”

“it is alright, professor. you know i do not mind your rambling one bit. besides, it is educational! i know nothing of this school.”

“.. yeah, you’re right. alright, well i’m still gonna cut it a bit short. in summary, this school is for incredibly talented students. and, since you said you wanna get out of the house more often, i figured.. well, ultimate robot seems like a cool title, huh?” 

kiibo’s eyes lit up— literally. “you really think i could be an ultimate?”

“yes, really. i mean, come on, you’re the first robot to grow like a human! i think that’s pretty extraordinary.”

“it’s all thanks to you, professor!”

kiibo tried to dive in for a hug, the professor laughing nervously as he almost swerved their car off road. “kiibo, i’m driving! hugging later!”

————————

it took a couple weeks to get fully enrolled and ready to go— hope’s peak didn’t seem too fond of walk-ins, but made an exception for kiibo solely based on the fact that professor iidabashi had requested it, as well as the added factor of how much of a scientific phenomenon kiibo was. after a few exams testing his intelligence to see if he could keep up in a regular high school course, naturally. 

he was a fast learner, so even if he didn’t know everything he’d know eventually. 

the professor dropped him off by the entrance gates with a farewell hug and his bag, leaving kiibo to navigate the campus himself. 

it took him a grand total of ten minutes to find his room— stopping to first ask where the dorm building was, then to ask what floor room 438 was on— and not without quite a few stares. he didn’t know whether to feel prideful in the fact that his professor’s amazing armor was finally being put to use or embarrassed by the amount of eyes on him. 

he decided as he got to his room that he didn’t like the staring. being the new kid is one thing, but being a robot, too..?

————————

he fumbled with his keys as he unlocked the door to his new room, sitting down on his new bed. he hummed in content as the mattress sunk under his weight. he didn’t have a bed at the professor’s house. he usually preferred sitting on the couch or in a chair to charge. he didn’t see the sense in using a bed for anything but its purpose, especially since he couldn’t fulfill it.

he glanced over to the other side of the room, at the empty bed next to him. he was supposedly rooming with another person— ah, well. a person. he didn’t count, he supposed. 

that made him frown. 

then his eyes focused on the rest of that side of the room, eyes passing over his roommate’s possessions. the bedspread was navy blue and had small star patterns on them, a few he’d recognized as constellations. but of course! why would a star-adorned fabric hold inaccurate shapes of the night sky? there were also posters by the head of the bed, all containing a source material he didn’t recognize.. something called danganronpa? he’d never heard of that before. he’d have to ask his roommate later about it. there was a single stuffed animal on the bed, and it took him longer than he’d like to admit for it to register as a bear. bears were big and scary, so it was hard to make the distinction. 

that side of the room felt homey. he enjoyed its presence, especially since his side of the room was varying tones of plain white and boring. even the mattress was bland and uncovered. 

he looked through his bag for all of his belongings. his charger.. thankfully, he found an outlet near his bed so he could sit there when he charged. he didn’t really have much to bring other than his charger, besides the notebooks and pens and pencils the professor said he’d need for class. 

he took a pen out of his bag and uncapped it curiously. he’d never written anything before. he took out a notebook and opened it to the first blank page. he tried writing his name with his left, then his right hand. the professor was left handed, but he had told kiibo that right handedness was more common because being a “lefty”, as he’d called it, used to be seen as an unlucky trait. it seemed he could write with both hands with equal ease. he tried taking out another pen and writing his name with both hands at the same time. this was harder, and took him longer. soon enough, the page was covered in “K1-B0”s and “iidabashi”s, along with experimental doodles of the things around him, like the stuffed bear on his unknown roommate’s bed. 

that’s when he heard the door open. 

he closed his notebook and pushed it and his pens into his bag, turning his eyes to the door and seeing.. his roommate, perhaps?

“.. ah. i was wondering why the door was unlocked.” 

kiibo found this odd. the boy standing in the doorway only stared at him for a moment before moving to his bed to sit down. should he introduce himself? should he stay quiet? should he stop staring at the boy? he had no idea how to approach this situation. he’d never talked to another teenager before, other than asking for directions earlier. 

the boy sighed contently as he plopped down on his bed, his bag bouncing off of the bed and onto the floor. he didn’t seem to mind that. kiibo watched the boy for what felt like forever, but he knew was only three minutes going off his internal clock, before the boy sat back up. “are you going to just stare at me forever, or..?” 

kiibo snapped out of it, apologizing quietly and shifting his gaze to the floor to avoid making the boy uncomfortable. iidabashi had warned him that some people didn’t like eye contact, and he got the feeling that the boy was less extroverted than he. the boy in question laughed at his apologies. “don’t worry about it.” 

the boy held out his hand. “i’m shuichi saihara. what’s your name?” 

kiibo stared at his hand in confusion, glancing back up at the boy— saihara. “i am K1-B0, the ultimate robot! but please address me as kiibo.” his voice came out louder than he intended it to. “er.. i apologize, but.. why is your hand out like that?” 

saihara looked confused as well for a moment before dropping his hand back into his lap dejectedly. “oh, a robot, huh? i guess you don’t know about handshakes..” 

“excuse me? if that is a robophobic comment i will have it reported to the professor immediately!” kiibo huffed, earning a nervous laugh from saihara. 

“no, i was just.. never mind. uh.. am i the first person you’ve talked to here?”

kiibo sighed heavily, although it was impossible for him to breathe. “was i that obvious? i apologize. i.. don’t know what this handshake thing is, but i’d be willing to learn it if it makes me appear more humanlike!” his eyes lit up as he spoke, clearly overjoyed at the thought of appearing human. 

“ah, alright. well i suppose it’s all in the name?” saihara responded, laughing when kiibo lifted his hand and shook it in the air around his head. “no, not like that. hold out your hand, lemme show you.” 

kiibo held out his hand in between him and saihara, jumping a little when saihara grabbed his hand. “what are you doing?” 

“relax, relax.. now just shake your hand up and down like this..” saihara directed in a soothing tone, then demonstrating the handshake. kiibo followed suit. “no, not so intense. loosen your grip a little.. yeah, that’s it! you got it.” 

kiibo let go of saihara’s hand almost immediately, his face heating up—literally. his fans weren’t working fast enough. why was his face so hot? he hoped it wasn’t a visible concern. “thank you for teaching me, saihara,” he said gratefully, to which saihara just nodded and said it was no problem. he was smiling. 

kiibo was smiling, too. he was pretty sure he had made a friend just then.

maybe this would be easier than he first thought.


End file.
